1. Introduction to Gas

2. The History of Gas in Australia

3. Gas was first used in Sydney in 1841 to light street lamps.

4. Town gas was initially used and supplied by The Australian Gas Light Company (AGL) See handout for more info (1)

5. Natural gas was discovered in 1900 by accident when drilling for water in QLD See handout for more info (2)

6. In 1969 Natural gas was introduced in Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne. And it arrived in Sydney in 1976 See handout for more info (3)

7. Gas production and exploration has been undertaken by many companies including: BHP, BP, Origin Energy, Santos and others.

8. Santos (see handout) Founded in 1954, Santos has been active in the energy business for more than 50 years. It’s first significant discovery of natural gas was in the Cooper basin in 1963 And it’s Moomba discovery in 1966 confirmed the region as a major petroleum province.

9. Natural gas pipelines transport large volumes of gas, at high pressure, over long distances. The natural gas used in Sydney is piped from Moomba in the Cooper basin in SA See handout for more info (4)

10. Natural gas is also liquefied (LNG) and exported to Japan and China via the Natural Gas liquefaction plant in WA’s North West Shelf Project near Karratha. Natural gas becomes a liquid at -161°C and is suitable for shipping because it occupies only 1/600 th of the space of natural gas. See handout for more info (5)

11. Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) also known as Propane is another gas widely use throughout Australia where the convenience of bottled gas may be more appropriate or where the availability of natural gas is limited.

12. The LPG industry began in Australia in the early 1920’s with product imported from the US. Australian production began at oil refineries in 1950’s See handout for more info (6)

13. By the 1970’s, propane and butane became available in substantial quantities. See handout for more info (7)

14. Australia currently produces about 3800 kt of LPG annually. 80% occurs naturally (extracted from oil and gas production) 20% is produced from crude oil in the refining process. See handout for more info (8)